In Lebanon, a renowned central bank governor faces attack

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by reuters.com -- - It was 2008 and unlike many countries, Lebanon was sailing through the worst global downturn in 80 years largely unscathed. With a booming economy and resilient banks, central bank governor Riad Salameh confidently talked up Lebanon’s success. “I saw the crisis coming and I told the commercial banks in 2007 to get out of all international investments related to the international markets,” Salameh, now one of the world’s longest-serving governors at 26 years, told the BBC at the time. Those efforts were lauded by the IMF and accolades followed. More than a decade later, however, his record is under attack. Detractors partly blame Salameh’s policies for Lebanon’s worst economic crisis in 30 years, including strains in the financial and banking system not seen even during the 1975-90 civil war. Defenders view the central bank as the linchpin of stability and one of few institutions that has operated effectively through years of bad government by politicians whose corruption is the underlying cause of the crisis.

Protesters on the streets, who once revered Salameh’s ability to steer the financial system through bouts of unrest, now daub graffiti on the walls of the central bank. “People used to think the governor was a god but now they know what is happening,” said Leila, a 30-year-old entrepreneur. The policies that largely defined his tenure include the Lebanese pound’s peg to the dollar and, in recent years, so-called “financial engineering”, involving siphoning dollars from local banks at high interest rates to keep the government’s finances afloat. His approach has drawn increasing criticism in the wake of anti-government demonstrations that erupted on Oct. 17 and led Saad al-Hariri to step down as prime minister, panicking depositors to pull billions of dollars from banks. This week banks shut again, after being closed for much of October, and have restricted transfers abroad and curbed U.S. dollar withdrawals.

DWINDLING INFLOWS

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Lebanon protesters react angrily to finance minister’s appointment as new PM

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By AFP -- BEIRUT: Lebanese protesters who have been demanding radical reform reacted with anger Friday to the reported designation of a new prime minister they regard as emblematic of a failed political system. According to senior officials speaking on condition of anonymity and Lebanese press reports, key political players agreed that Mohammed Safadi should be tasked with forming the next government. Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on October 29, nearly two weeks into the unprecedented nationwide protests demanding the wholesale removal of a ruling elite seen as corrupt and incompetent. President Michel Aoun has said he will support the formation of a government including technocrats but he has not yet announced consultations over a new line-up and there was no official confirmation that Safadi had been designated.

Demonstrators in his hometown of Tripoli wasted no time in rejecting Safadi, however, and gathered in front of one of his properties to protest against a reported nomination they regard as a provocation. "Choosing Mohammed Safadi for prime minister proves that the politicians who rule us are in a deep coma, as if they were on another planet," said Jamal Badawi, 60. Another protester said that as a business tycoon and former minister, Safadi was an embodiment of the kind of political class the protest movement wants to remove. "He's an integral part of this leadership's fabric," said Samer Anous, a university professor. "Safadi does not meet the aspirations of the popular uprising in Lebanon."

A protest was planned in the afternoon at Zaytuna Bay, a luxury marina in central Beirut which is fun by a company that Safadi chairs and which many say encroaches on public land. Several dozen private hospitals across the country closed their doors to patients -- except for emergencies -- to protest shortages of essential goods following delays in payments by the state. Last week the head of the syndicate of private hospitals, Suleiman Haroun, said that current medical "stocks in the country will not last more than a month". A lack of access to the US currency meant the situation could deteriorate fast, he warned.

Banks, which have restricted access to dollars since the start of the protests, remained closed after employees went on strike over alleged mistreatment by customers, while many school and university classes were disrupted again. For two decades the Lebanese pound has been pegged to the greenback at around 1,500 to the dollar, with both currencies used interchangeably in daily life. The army meanwhile said it had arrested 20 demonstrators on Friday after soldiers were targeted as they attempted to reopen roads closed by protesters. Nine were later released, seven were held for questioning and four were transferred to the military police, the army said without giving further details.

Lebanese media: major parties agree on ex-minister Safadi as PM

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BEIRUT (Reuters) By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam- Three major Lebanese parties have agreed on nominating Mohammad Safadi, a former finance minister, to become prime minister of a new government, the Lebanese broadcasters LBCI and MTV reported on Thursday. The agreement was reached in a meeting on Thursday between outgoing Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon's leading Sunni politician, and senior representatives of the Shi'ite groups Amal and Hezbollah. There was no official comment from the parties or Safadi. The broadcasters did not identify their sources.

Hariri quit as prime minister on Oct. 29 in the face of an unprecedented wave of protests against ruling politicians who are blamed for rampant state corruption and steering Lebanon into its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. Hariri remains caretaker prime minister for now. Since quitting, Hariri, who is aligned with the West and Gulf Arab states, has been holding closed-door meetings with parties including the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which had wanted him to be prime minister again. Lebanon's prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to the country's sectarian power-sharing system. Mustaqbal Web, a Hariri-owned news website, said a meeting between Hariri, Ali Hassan Khalil of the Amal Movement and Hussein al-Khalil of Hezbollah had discussed recommending Safadi for the post.

MTV said the government would be a mixture of politicians and technocrats. Mustaqbal Web said the type of government was not discussed, and neither was the question of whether Hariri's Future Movement would be part of the Cabinet. LBCI said the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party allied to Hezbollah, had also agreed to Safadi's nomination. They did not identify their sources. Safadi is a prominent businessman and member of parliament from the northern city of Tripoli. He served previously as finance minister from 2011-2014 under prime minister Najib Mikati. Prior to that, he served as minister of economy and trade in the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who was backed by the West. He held that post again in the Hariri-led Cabinet that took office in 2009. Hariri had said he would only return as prime minister of a Cabinet of specialist ministers which he believed would be best placed to win international aid and steer Lebanon out of its economic crisis, sources close to Hariri have said. (Reporting by Laila Bassam, Eric Knect, Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Sandra Maler and Matthew Lewis)

Lebanon protesters tell the president: ‘it’s time for father of all to leave’

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by thenational.ae -- Sunniva Rose and James Haines-Young  -- Protesters closed the highway from the Lebanese capital to Baabda Palace on Wednesday and refused an invitation to meet President Michel Aoun. The demonstration outside the presidential palace came on the 28th day of the mass uprising against the government and decades of corruption. On Wednesday evening, men with guns and knives arrived at a protest in Jal El Dib, north of Beirut, leading to fights with protesters. At least one man fired into the air before being disarmed. Earlier in the day, Mr Aoun conveyed a message through the presidential guard for the protesters outside the palace to send in a delegation to discuss their demands. But the demonstrators refused to send a small number of people, insisting that if the president wanted to hear their complaints he would have to speak to all those gathered.

Protesters expressed anger at an interview Mr Aoun gave on Wednesday evening, in which he said: “If they do not like any person in authority, let them emigrate.” “He told us, ‘If you don’t like what is happening, just leave',” said Guy Younes, 29, a civil engineer. "How is that possible in any country in the world? This is so stupid. He wants us to leave, 250,000 people to leave. Architecture student Nicholas Habib, 25, said: “We have a lot of requests. The first is the resignation of Michel Aoun and then we have to make selections and a technocratic Cabinet. “We want technocrats, we do not want politicians. It is engineers who are going to be judges and in the ministries, people who have nothing to do with politics.”

Mr Habib said Mr Aoun’s speech on Wednesday night angered him. “How can a president of a republic say that to his people?” he asked. But Mr Habib said he was optimistic that the president would eventually be forced to resign. People chanted, “We won’t go until the ‘father of all’ leaves,” using Mr Aoun’s self-given title. “Leave, leave, leave, your presidency is starving people.”

Marie-Therese Tabet, 65, who lives in Beirut, called for a new government that could stop the brain drain. “Our children, who are supposed to work, are highly educated people, hyper-responsible, but can’t find a way out so they go abroad where they succeed," Ms Tabet said. "Why not take advantage of these brains to maintain this country?” Two women standing on the motorway to Baabda said the president’s message had been provocative and spurred people to hit the streets on Wednesday. “Instead of calming things down, people got very angry and it’ll probably push the level of anger and tension even higher,” one of the women said. “Of course we don’t trust him. Why would the people trust a government that failed them for years and years? "He was just not listening to what people were saying, and it ended up with a terrible outcome last night.”

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Breakdown of trust deepens financial crisis in Lebanon

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middle-east-online.com -- BEIRUT - Lebanese student Fatima Jaber's family is struggling to pay off multiple loans with double-digit interest rates. Even before the start of protests that have forced out Lebanon's prime minister, her confidence was fading in a financial system long regarded as a pillar of stability. But now, like many Lebanese, she thinks the system is broken.

The loss of trust is eroding liquidity in the banking sector, increasing concerns that banks may not be able to help the government fund high budget and current account deficits. One of the world's most indebted countries, Lebanon has a public debt equal to about 150% of its gross domestic product. "We need a change to the system because everyone has at least one loan from the bank and the rates are very high and we can't pay them," said Jaber, 22, as she and a small crowd protested outside the central bank in the capital, Beirut. Dollar loans have to be repaid in the same currency, which is especially difficult because there is a hard currency squeeze in Lebanon. With big banks' websites showing the annual interest on some loans is about 27%, any people are in dire straits.

Central bank governor Riad Salameh sought to ease concerns on Monday, saying the bank had a usable foreign cash reserve of $30 billion and total assets of $38 billion. The central bank has taken steps to protest depositors by ensuring no bank would fail and will seek to lower interest rates through liquidity management, he said. But the imposition by banks of controls on dollar withdrawals and transfers overseas has failed to rebuild confidence.

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Lebanese protests reignited as demonstrator killed following Aoun's speech

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by middleeasteye.net -- Violence flared-up in Lebanon on Wednesday following the killing of a protester and a televised speech by President Michel Aoun overnight which triggered fresh rage against the country's sectarian leadership. Clashes broke out Wednesday afternoon at the Jal el-Dib bridge and highway, a major route from Lebanon's north to the capital, between protesters blocking the thoroughfare and local residents armed with knives and sticks. A video circulated on social media showed one man shooting into the air and pointing the machine gun towards protesters. A separate video showed protesters disarm the man and smashed the car in which he had arrived. At least four people were injured, local media reported. The Lebanese army intervened later in the afternoon to reopen the road. Hundreds also gathered along a highway leading to the presidential palace in Baabda as Lebanese army officers and riot police placed metal barriers and barbed wire on the road.

Security forces have been criticised for failing to adopt similar measures earlier this month when supporters of Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) gathered near the palace to support the president and his son-in-law, FPM leader Gebran Bassil. Aoun had invited protesters to send a delegation to meet with him, but the offer yielded no results. Previous invitations were also turned down as protesters argued it was not possible to appoint representatives to speak on behalf of the leaderless movement. Two main intersections - the Ring Bridge above Beirut’s central district and the Chevrolet intersection in the capital’s southern outskirts - were also blocked by protesters on Wednesday. Scuffles broke out between protesters and army officers at the Chevrolet intersection in the morning as the officers attempted to reopen the roads. No serious injuries were reported. Protesters also occupied the Cola intersection in east Beirut late on Wednesday.

Fight at a roadblock

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